Laker fans are wondering why Dwight didn't play more lol. This thing confuses so many people. I hated the small ball lineup at the start of the year because we just didn't have the pieces, too many hurt players, EGO not in, he didn't commit to it enough. But this is clearly better for Russ and teams will pay when they double Harden.
Can’t hate on Harden after a big when especially when he made some key plays defensively down the stretch. It feels extra good knowing we can win even when Harden has a terrible game on offense. I wish Harden could sustain that type of defensive effort he showed in the final minutes for a whole game/season/playoff series. He’s gonna have to for us to have legit hopes at a title. Other big takeaway I noticed was when he brought the ball up quickly as opposed to walking it up like he normally does we were able to get a quick wide open transition 3. Again, with this new lineup and ideology he’s got no other choice and I hope he realizes that.
I think that's because there are a lot of knee jerk posters and hot takes on this board. Westbrook was coming off of two surgeries in the offseason and adjusting to a new system, yet people were shocked when he started off slowly. Did anybody not think that maybe he was settling for some of those shots because he didn't quite trust the knee and hand yet?
Not really, a seven game series in the playoffs where you are gameplanned or have 10-20 games of data will help provide better adjustments than one game where no one has seen this lineup before. But still happy we pulled it off, I'm sure Dwight wasn't happy lol.
Yeah MDA was on point tonight I’ll concede that. Really liked his time outs tonight he was on that excellently !!! minutes were better distributed as well which we hope has wise reaching effect on the shooting and later game defense which it appeared to work tonight ! Maybe he just needed shorter guys to lol
I've been an MDA supporter because I like the run 'n gun style of small ball. Swarming/switching defense. MUCH more entertaining than the old Charles Barkley back 'em into the paint I think D'Antoni's system works with the right personnel. People rag on him and don't give him enough credit. We could do MUCH worse from a coaching standpoint (hello JB Bickerstaff)
People forget that we had to stop playing Capela when GSW went small. GS small ball gave teams headache for like half a decade, this isn't something new. We could probably mix in IHart and Bruno eventually to not be as predictable
not really? have you kept up with the lakers this year? AD hates playing center and they like having one of mcghee/dwight in the game with him for much of the game. both were forced to the bench. people thought they would just stay big no matter what. wrong. bigs were getting lost all day on defense
Agree hard to believe RoCo could make that big a difference, but Everyone was hustling especially House, Rivers, Ego and PJ. Very well done!
Exactly!!! Cherish and appreciate MDA while you can, there are more JB's in Rockets future under Tilly. Especially if runs Morey out of town.
He realized it at halftime and pregame then all of a sudden - oh noes, wait till they have to deal with Joker and Gobert! If only a small ball team had recently left Gobert rolling around on the deck.